A much more cautious group of adventurers takes to the task of exploring the large alcoves. Starting with the west wing, Bobert and Paul search for historical evidence or valuables overlooked by previous explorers.
The western hall extends roughly forty feet ending with a marble platform raised roughly 6 inches from the floor. On the platform sits a shattered apparatus, its curved ovular frame giving the appearance of a noble's dressing mirror, only a third of which remains.
Paul inches forward down the hall, each step slow and light like a cat. Towards the end of the hall, he pauses and looks back and forth, the rest of the party holds their breath in anticipation of a trap being tripped. A moment of pause and nothing, the tension subsides. Paul continues on to follow the wall around the back of the apparatus and then up onto the platform. Content with his search, he beckons Bobert forward.
Bobert moves in closer to inspect the device. Studying the apparatus intently, he notices the device bears many of the same runic markings observed along the walls of the cairn. As best as he can describe to the party, Bobert tells them "The glyphs do not seem to belong to any alphabet I've come across, but are very similar to arcane symbols we might recognize today as being closely associated with elemental air signs. They might even be associated with teleportation. Though, with the device shattered, completely unusable."
Scratching his head, Dasani throws a small pebble to the floor, "Well that's most unfortunate. I would love to have seen where it went!"
With nothing further of interest here, the party makes its way down the eastern hall. Shortly into the hallway, the party's advance is halted by a collapsed passage. A huge pile of collapsed rubble blocks the alcove from top to bottom. It looks like it would take weeks to tunnel through the densely packed debris.
The legend, given his dwarven nature, suggests "Let's start digging! There's probably something valuable on the other side!"
The party gives a collective roll of eyes before Dasani speaks up, "While that sounds like a great time, let's grab the low-hanging fruit before we starting digging up the cairn. Besides, we don't even have a pick or shovel to our names right now."
The group turns to head back down the corridor, The Legend, walking backward a number of steps, intently searches the rubble before turning, with a frown, to follow the party.
Rounding the corner to head further north into the cairn the central hallway opens into a large chamber with wings leading to the east and west. Further to the north yawns a twenty-foot-wide open arch draped from top to bottom in translucent cobwebs. An eerie green light flickers from beyond the webs, casting strange shadows about the hallway. To the west, three short stairs lead to a wide marble dais, but the far end is obscured by darkness. Huge slabs of cracked masonry and scattered debris choke the eastern wing, with what appears to be a small burrow leading into the rubble, and the sibilant, almost human whispers present in the passage become a chorus in this massive chamber, echoing off the walls like spectral howls.
Dasani speaks up first while pointing to the dais and then to the rubble, "Let's go check out the dais and head to the hole over there."
Paul chimes in, "Let's split up, I doubt many can fit in that alcove, I'll take a look and the rest of you can check out the dais. I feel like any traps would have been sprung long ago anyway."
The members all nod, as Bobert speaks up, "I'll head over with Paul. We'll be back shortly if there's anything of importance."
Dasani shrugs and the Legend cocks a brow as the party turns in separate directions as part of their investigations.
Paul and Bobert take light steps down the hallway to the east, towards the opening in the rubble. As they near, their nostrils flare and Bobert gags from the smell of dead carcasses, feces and urine sprayed along the walls. Even worse, the opening is such that the heroes must crawl through on hands and knees.
Bobert, trying to cover his nose with one hand gestures with the other hand at the hole, "You first?"
Paul leans down to the burrow hole and pokes his head in, listening intently for any threats, then gets on his hands and knees to crawl through. Satisfied there's no danger, Bobert follows.
The two adventurers crawl through mud and filth to emerge on the other side, where the hall extends upwards 30 to 40 feet. The two survey the space between the rubble and eastern most wall.
The far side is rank with the smell of wild animals. Irregular piles of rubble litter the den, as do hundreds of bones and bone fragments from the creatures' past meals. Most of the corpses belong to animals, but it's clear a few are unmistakably human.
Paul and Bobert search the detritus for anything carried in or digested and expelled by the wolves. Squinting his eyes in a far corner of bones, paul spots a worn backpack, half-wrapped around a ribcage with skin and muscle still clinging to parts of it.
"Look at this!", as Paul beckons Bobert to see the cache.
Opening the backpack, the adventurer find an elaborate lantern of indigo metal, inset with indigo glass panes.
Turning to see Paul's discovery, Bobert looks as if something has caught his eye. He bends down to find an intricately carved armband still around the boney appendage of the deceased owner. He thinks to himself, "These markings are elven in nature", giving a frown and audible "Hmmmm."
Bobert pulls the band off the skeleton and holds it up for Paul to see. Paul holds up the lantern.
The two smile and Bobert, amused, exclaims "Well, at least we didn't come away empty-handed, perhaps there's treasure to be found yet."
Bobert and Paul crawl out of the den and walk towards the western end of the hall where Dasani and the Legend have been studying a series of frescos lining the walls surrounding the dais. Standing in the middle of the dais, the wall painting makes it look like he is standing within a massive room with seven, short hallways radiating outward. A chain dangles from the ceiling at the end of each hallway and each chain bears a gleaming colored lantern. Clockwise, the colors are red, orange, yellow, green blue, indigo and violet.
Paul casually walks up to the dais to stand next to Dasani who notices the indigo lantern in Paul's hand.
Bobert comments, "Well, I guess we have an idea about this lantern now. Looks to be part of this assembly, which I presume is further into the cairn."
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